Egypt's prosecutor general said Monday that Al Jazeera journalist Abdullah Elshamy will be released on medical grounds after nearly a year of imprisonment. Elshamy was detained last August while covering a protest in support of deposed president Mohamed Morsi and has been on a hunger strike for the past five months in protest of …

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Monday called for intensive efforts to address the issue of female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C), calling the practice a form of gender-based discrimination that violated the right to be free from torture. Pillay stressed [UN News Centre …

A White House official said Monday that US President Barack Obama will sign an executive order that would bar federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. This action marks a departure from the White House's position last year that an executive order would carry less weight than congressional …